You can't use Facebook's new Mentions app

That is, unless you're famous

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It's lifestyles of the rich and famous for the digital age.

Facebook's new Mentions app for iOS is only on offer for celebrities and brands with verified accounts, giving them a slimmed down and trussed up version of the social network to see what's being said about them and other high rollers.

Actors, athletes, musicians and other influencers are the intended Mentions user base, and the app not only lets them peek social network chatter but also provides a more manageable means to interact with the masses.

So fancy

Mentions also acts as a sort of living timeline for jet setters, letting them upload pics, videos and hold live Q&As.

Finally, Mentions provides a stream of trending topics so Justin Timberlake and other busy famous types can see what's hot and decide whether they deign it worth a comment or not.

It's really a way for public figures to manage their interactions, a Facebook product manager told Variety, but also clearly a move to help Facebook court celebrities who prefer Twitter's more direct and easier to manage set-up.

Facebook figures show celebrities who tested Mentions posted twice as much content per day as they did before using the app, as well as interacted with other famous people twice as much as they did previously. However, the increase in activity could be a result of the app's bright-and-shininess and not necessarily because of usefulness, so we'll have to wait and see whether Mentions has more lasting power than Rebecca Black.